Birmingham Council President Johnathan Austin and Mayor William Bell greet Reps. John Rogers and Mary Moore Thursday during a meeting to present the city's legislative priority list for the next session. (Birmingham City Council photo)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The city of Birmingham's wish list for the
State Legislature includes more than a death-wish for proposals to change the
Birmingham Water Works Board.

While the focus of Birmingham's joint legislative
agenda is the opposition to proposed changes to the Birmingham Water Works
Board, document contains six points: economic development, education, quality
of life, transit, utilities and municipal court.

State lawmakers go into session Tuesday.

Here are some of the highlights.

Historic Tax Credits: The city supports
legislation that makes permanent credits for the rehabilitation, preservation
and redevelopment of residential and commercial historic structures. Previous
legislation put the provisions in place and a new proposal would extend those
incentives.

Environmental Permits: The agenda includes
a statement from Councilman William Parker supporting legislation to require
increased public notification and public comment when seeking air emission
permits in parts of Birmingham declared a federal Superfund site.

Payday Loans: The city supports a bill
from Rep. Patricia Todd to toughen rules on the payday lending industry. The
proposal from Councilwoman Lashunda Scales comes after the city tightened its
own zoning rules to control the grown of payday lending and title loan
businesses.

Education: The city requests changes to
the Alabama Accountability Act. This provision was proposed by Councilman
Steven Hoyt who wants some exemptions for Birmingham when it comes to the transfer of funds from public to private.

Mass Transit: The document includes a
statement supporting an alternative dedicated stream of funding for public
transit to enhance the Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority.
Currently, mass transit receives no state support.

Sex Offenders: The city supports legislation
to define a 'residential sex offender cluster' and prohibit more than one
unrelated sex offender from living in an unregulated cluster.

"This is a great start to a new term for
both the mayor and council and school board, and we need to keep up the
momentum," Council President Johnathan Austin told AL.com today. "We need to
keep our collective feet on the gas and move this city forward."

While the legislative document highlights the city's most
pressing issues to date, both Bell and Austin said other items could be added
at other issues arise during the legislative session.

"We're going to vet all of these bills," Bell
said. "We're going to have the legal department go through them to make sure
they are in the correct form."

Austin stressed that the list is a "living document."

"This all merges everything into one," Bell has said. "I'm
not objecting to any of this. This will speak to all of the pre-filed bills and
issues that the city has taken a position on."

The most contentious item on the
agenda is a statement against bills from State Sen. Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia
Hills and Rep. Paul Demarco, R-Homewood to mandate major changes to the Water
Work Board and its operation.

Board member pay for years has been a longstanding controversy with its open-ended billing criteria. In 2010 total board member pay topped $133,470.

Another provision of the
proposals would require board members to file annual statement of economic
interest disclosure forms with the State Ethics Commission. While the requirement
is already in place for some elected and public employees, the law does not currently
apply to Water Works Board members.

Birmingham leaders are largely
incensed by parts of the bills that involve expanding the five-member board to
include representatives areas serviced outside Jefferson County. Currently, the entire board is appointed by
the Birmingham City Council.

"I'm
proud of this document," Councilman Kim Rafferty said during Thursday's joint presentation.
"I think finally Birmingham is waking up so that we can make a difference,
rather than going along to get along."